Small & Large

12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.t13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.14 David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul,15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.

Distractions seem to be a part of life. There is always something that tries to grab for your attention. It can be as miniscule as your twitter or facebook feed and it can be as big as a crisis in the family. One type of distraction that we don’t really see as a distraction is when a greater opportunity opens up. It is a distraction when we automatically drop a smaller responsibility for a larger one.

Here we have young David, the shepherd boy. Day after day looking after sheep, protecting them, cleaning them, playing with them. Then one day the Prophet Samuel comes to your home and annoints you as Gods chosen person, then because of the favor of the Lord you have now become the armor-bearer of the king and personal worship team. Then there is a huge battle about to take place and your King and your family has gone to fight. To me that looks like a promotion! Greater opportunities. What catches my eye is the faithfulness of David in the little and big things. He not only continues to be Sauls armor-bearer, he not only goes to the battle with his king and family, he also… 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. He continued to feed his dads sheep! How crazy is that. If I was David I don’t think I would go continue being a shepherd. Dad, come on I still got to take care of the sheep? Didn’t you hear what Samuel said? I’m Sauls armor bearer! But scripture says he went back and forth. Of course we know eventually David stopped being the shepherd and transitioned to being at Sauls full-time and then being the king. But during that time of transition he was faithful with the large and the small.

This is a reminder to me to be faithful with the small and large. I must be faithful with the large battle of fighting to turn this city into the city of hope but I also must stay faithful to shepherding my soul and my family. I also must stay faithful in small and large.

What areas of your life do you need to continue to be faithful (David balancing being a shepherd and armor bearer)? What areas of your life are you still holding onto that you need to let go (David eventually stopped being a shepherd and became a king)